The Jan. 23 election was scheduled after representatives of the township, the local and the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board signed a memo of agreement as a result of a hearing Dec. 30 in the Perkasie law offices of township Solicitor Francis X. Grabowski.

The PLRB called the hearing after the township supervisors voted Dec. 9 to reject a joint request from the employees and the Teamsters to hold the election, township Coordinator C. Robert Wynn said.

The request was submitted to the township Nov. 19 after the employees asked the Teamsters to organize them, Morris said. "They want the protection of the union, that the union could offer them as far as job security," he said.

Morris said the employees said they want to be unionized becausethe township's police department is unionized. But, he said, they did not cite any specific grievances with the township.

"They didn't vocalize it that way," Morris said. "But one usually assumes that when an employee comes to the Teamsters there is dissatisfaction with the employer."

If a majority of the employees votes for the Teamsters, the union will be certified by the PLRB as the employees' exclusive bargaining agent, and the union will open negotiations with the township.

Voting in the Teamsters would also continue a trend that has seen more municipal workers joining the union in recent years, Morris said. "The Teamsters have a sizable membership that is in the public sector across the United States," he said.